Came across an article when I was reading the papers today on how relationships could be destroyed during economic downturns.

Hmmm now that makes me wonder:
What would my so called friends do if I were to borrow money from them? Would they siam me?
What would I do if my friends try to borrow money from me? Would I come up with all kinda reasons for not having money to spare?

p.s. I'm not talking about $10 - $20 kinda loan, say in the hundreds or a couple of thousand?

One of my friends has this philosophy:
Treat lending of money as an investment, invest what you can afford. This should be the money that you can do without. The worst is you'll lose your principal, alternatively you will reap the rewards of your investment.

Zen eh? But it is really sound advise, do not feel obligated to lend more than what you can do without. Dun feel guilty about not lending if you can't. Cuz you have to bear in mind that you may not get your money back anytime soon, if at all. And your friends should understand and be appreciative of whatever you can offer to help.

So the worst case scenario is you will lose your money but you will be able to see if your friends are still worth keeping, so I would say it's not a total loss. On the other hand, as they say, a friend in need is a friend indeed. While some bonds break in the face of adversity, some strengthen.

Question is, would anyone wanna risk existing friendships?